Free Rides to Polls for Voters this Election Day!

A partnership between Clean Air, Community Power for Health and Justice, and Liberty Cab can help!  On November 7^th the Liberty Cab Company will provide any Erie County resident a ride to and from their polling place free of charge. This is the second year that Liberty Cab has partnered up with us to drive voters to the polls. Last year, phones rang off the hook with voters requesting rides almost every two minutes.

“We know the importance that transportation access has in taking part in democracy. Transportation has always been a second thought with everything we do here in Western New York. It really should be part of the planning process. There’s a lot of people including seniors who want to exercise their right to vote,” said Bill Yuhnke, of Liberty Cab “We can’t let lack of transportation stop people from taking part in this process.”

But there is more to this project than just providing a free ride. Many our our members complain of big money and the corrupting of large donations to elected officials. The project aims improve voter turnout and engage with communities to combat the undue influence of money in our political system.

The more obstacles put in the way of voter participation the less people vote and hold elected officials accountable. In New York we have seen this in the form restricting early voting, and inaccessible polling centers. With less people participating in the political process, elected become more accountable to their donors rather than their constituents. The Liberty Ride to Vote project aims to counteract the effects of big money in politics by overcoming the obstacle of transportation to the polls.

Each voter who shows up diminishes the influence of every dollar spent trying to buy an election. Decisions are made every day by people we elect that impact our lives. The decisions electeds make should be based on the real needs of communities, not the desires of people who want to profit on the backs of working people, people with disabilities and their families.  One of the things that can weaken the control of big money is a flood of voters.

Residents can take advantage of this service by calling Liberty Cab at 716-877-7111, press 0, then use the code LibertyRide2Vote.  This service is not affiliated with any political party or campaign. This service is available only to Erie County residents at this time. Residents must reside in Erie County and have a voting location also based within Erie County in order to participate.

On Tuesday, November 7th polls will be open from 6am-9pm. Residents can find their polling place by calling the Erie County Board of Elections at 716-858-8891, or by using the Voting Information Projects Voting Information Tool at www.votinginfoproject.org.